The ultimate list of anime to get you through the winter lull

Disappointed with Space Dandy? Impatient for more Kill la Kill? If the current crop of winter anime just isn't doing it for you, you’re not alone. That's why we put together this list of other titles to get you through barren wastes until summer, and the return of some of our favorites, including the long-awaited Sailor Moon reboot.

Like any other television medium, anime isn’t just a single genre, so it’s hard to create a useful list of recommendations. We’ve broken ours down across general genres and subgenres to make it easier for you to find new series to try. While most of the suggestions are from the last three years or so, we’ve also included some earlier underappreciated anime you may have missed, as well as stuff we just plain love.

Part One: Adventure and Genre Hybrids

Cerebral genre-benders

If you like hybrids that mix genres and make you think, with or without bonus cults and conspiracies, you should try:

This is a truly unique blend of hybrid elements from horror to comedy to coming-of-age tropes. Tatami Galaxy is a visual masterpiece, as well as an award-winning Groundhog Day-like narrative of brain-bending possibilities. Oh, and there's cults.

Where to watch: Funimation or Hulu, or watch the first episode, which Funimation handily shared on YouTube.

This dark comedy is a satirical spoof, brought to you by Satan’s most put-upon employee. To quote Crunchyroll viewer bunnykun, “If you ever wanted to watch slice-of-life of a high level administrator of Hell, this anime is for you.” Currently airing, this show is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

We put this anime in the hybrid category because everything about it is a mixed bag of mystery. How did it become a Shounen Jump manga, of all things? How has it managed to become one of the longest-running serial manga in the history of Japan? And how did its anime adaptation manage to marry a modern aesthetic with a plot that’s three decades old? What makes the "Jojo pose" such a powerful part of the manga’s aesthetic—so much that it's become a beloved fandom meme as well as a cultural icon? These questions are part of what makes JoJo as facinating today as it was in 1987, when the manga first appeared in Jump.

In the early 2000s, a set of OVAs (standalone anime episodes) covering the third arc of the manga were released in English dub. They were dark and gritty (you can see an example here) and lost a lot of the over-the-top flash that made the manga so popular. Last year, however, the first two arcs received a new adaptation for anime, to mixed but impressive results. The third season is planned for release this year.

Part Two: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Based on a classic ‘70’s manga, this dystopic fantasy space opera has all the visual hallmarks of classic anime (mid-air magical transformations, anyone?) combined with a gorgeous aesthetic and moving relationships. Oh, and a great soundtrack.

Where to watch: This anime hasn’t been licensed in the U.S., but there are decent fansubs to be had, including these at Soul Anime.

This recently popular favorite combines classic Samurai action with futuristic space fantasy, as well as lots of moments of fourth-wall-breaking meta and wackynfun. Imagine Getbackers meeting Rurouni Kenshin in the setting of The Jetsons and you’ve pretty much got the idea.

For fans of the acclaimed series Baccano!, this will feel like a redux, as author Ryohgo Narita reunites with director Takahiro Omori for a fascinating series featuring Narita’s trademark overlapping/fragmented narrative format. Think Rashomon, but with gang violence.

If you’re into real classics like Gundam Wing and Escaflowne, or newer offerings like Code Geass, then you’re probably a fan of those robot suits you saw in Pacific Rim. If that sounds like you, then you should try:

Take the whimsical girl-power of Legally Blonde and combine it with the starry-eyed pop music dreams of Beck and you have Skip Beat!, a fun and warm story about a girl getting revenge on her popstar boyfriend by outshining him.

Although the plot of this recent horror anime starts off sounding familiar, it soon spirals into a terrifying mystery complete with curses, creepy dolls, conspiracies, and a Ringu-inspired schoolgirl who may or may not be alive.

Part Three: Comedy and “Light” Anime

We’ve already told you how much Tumblr fandom loves the two OVAs (standalone anime episodes) and film adaptation of this series, based on a best-selling manga about the hypothetical modern-day friendship of Jesus and Buddha. It’s also an award-winning philosophical look at two very different cultural icons, along with being an excellent bit of fanfic.

Where to watch: Although there’s, surprisingly, no U.S. license yet for the anime adaptation, by some miracle of the Internet, the film is currently free on YouTube. Watch it while you can:

Part Four: Sports and Gaming

Shounen Sports Anime

If you’re a fan of Free!, Prince of Tennis, or any other sport-based anime, the good news is you have lots of recent series to sample. But it’s no surprise—these are the kinds of titles that Shounen Jumpbuilt its legacy around.

Despite being new this season, this series about a high school cycling club is starting to gain a devoted fanbase. Rare for a shounen sports anime, it goes easy on the over-the-top superhuman athletic prowess and focuses on realistic competition instead.

This delightful series has done for the game kuruta—a card game built around competitive memorization of the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu—what Hikaru no Go did for the game of Go in Japan. Centered on a schoolgirl who learns the game for herself while exploring new friendships, it’s won critical as well as popular support.

If you’re a fan of Junjou Romantica, you’ll notice a big similarity because the manga author, Shungiku Nakamura, and the animation studio have reunited for this sweet love song to, well, romance tropes. All the elements of classic romantic comedies are on display here, and World’s Greatest First Love has so far proven a great gateway drug to yaoi of all sorts.

Blending sci-fi with a coming-of-age story of loyalty and friendship, No. 6 places a burgeoning love story against a sparkling but dysfunctional setting reminiscent of the Hunger Games. With only 11 episodes, this series is a biting dystopia featuring two main characters who have all the hallmarks of an epic male/male romance.